1. INTERNATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF U.S. LAWS ON TORTURE Ahmed Chaudry

2. RESEARCH QUESTION How is International Relations impacted through the changing perceptions and definitions of U.S. laws on torture? Assessment: Relative historical changes in U.S. perspectives on torture pre and post 9/11 (including domestic government policies, public opinion, and media representation). Torture functioning in the context of the “Global War on Terror.” International law on torture (focusing on the Geneva Conventions and the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment).

3. JUSTIFICATION OF CHOSEN LENS Liberalism “A theory of both government within states and good governance between states” with an aim to “to project values of order, liberty, justice, and toleration into international relations.” A historical project of “the domestication of the international” (Baylis 2011, 102-103) Criticism: Post-9/11 world and international affairs at large function in contradiction to the values of liberalism. Presence of conflict, insecurity, intolerance, torture, and injustice in the 21 st Century works against ideals of Liberalism (Baylis 2011, 111) Counter-Argument: Ideas can change. Belief in the possibility of progress.

4. LIBERALISM (CONT….) Criticism: Liberalism works to promote idealistic universal values that cannot be realistically attained. Counter-Argument: Presence of established and generally accepted international norms Criticism: Liberalism bound up with the “Enlightenment” view of the world. Undermines traditions and practices of non-western cultures (Baylis 2011, 112). Reasoning: “Being the strongest power in the world does not mean being able to dictate all the important political, military, or economic outcomes.” Concept of promoting democracy but not enforcing it (Dunne 2013, 111). Uses of Theory: Role of International Organizations. Domestication of international customs, treaties and conventions. “The United States has grown accustomed to setting the standard for the world in condemning torture as always criminal and always an inexcusable violation of human rights” (Annas 2005, 2127).

5. TRACING U.S. DOMESTIC LAWS AND PRACTICES 5 th Amendment – Prohibition against torture sanctioned by the Government to gain confessions (i.e. Self-Incrimination) 8 th Amendment – Prohibition of “cruel and unusual punishment” Congress – Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 – The Act provides that “any person (including a non-citizen) can bring a civil action in U.S. courts against any other person who ‘under actual or apparent authority, or color of law, of any foreign nation’ subjects a person to torture or extrajudicial killing.” War Crimes Act of 1996 – Sets prohibitions and penalties for violating the Geneva Conventions Supreme Court Cases Official interrogation policy in 2001: U.S. Army Field Manual 34-52, which allowed “use of psychological ploy such as shouting at a detainee or banging on the table” but “expressly prohibited the use of ‘force, mental torture, threats, insults, or exposure to unpleasant and inhumane treatment of any kind.”

6. DOMESTIC PRACTICES Following the 9/11 attacks, the Bush Administration decided the U.S. was in “a new kind of war” that required obtaining “useful intelligence quickly from individuals suspected of possible terrorist activities directed against the United States.” The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) sought approval from the National Security Council for “a new interrogation program aimed at high-value detainees” or otherwise known as Enhanced interrogation techniques (Dunoff 2010, 406). Bush Administration lawyers provided legal justifications for torture practices under both U.S. law and international law – Crafted arguments favoring Enhanced Interrogation techniques. Provide “legal cover” for administrative officials and interrogators.

7. DOMESTIC PRACTICES (CONT….) August 1, 2002 – Memorandum from the Justice Department to Alberto Gonzales (former legal counsel to President Bush) – Interpretation of the anti- torture statute, which follows the Convention against Torture – the memorandum “concluded that to constitute torture….the pain inflicted ‘must be equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death.’” Memorandum withdrawn shortly thereafter by the Justice Department (Annas 2005, 2128).

8. DOMESTIC REACTIONS

9. INTERNATIONAL TREATIES AND CONVENTIONS Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Article 1, Section 2: “No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.” Article 4, Section 1: “Each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law.” Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 5: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment….” Article 9: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile….” Geneva Conventions

10. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS Nuremberg Principles of holding individuals accountable International Impacts - Rwanda and Yugoslav tribunals punishing the highest chains of command. With Abu Ghraib and other cases, U.S. only punishing a few low level individuals. Is that sufficient? Under both the Convention against Torture and the Geneva Conventions, U.S. required to “impose criminal sanctions for acts amounting to torture.” In response, members of the Department of Defense have argued the Geneva Conventions do not apply to members of al Qaeda or Taliban. Necessity Defense Is U.S. bound by customary international law on torture?

11. TESTIMONIES The Epidemiology of Torture: A Case Series of 58 Survivors of Torture (James Sanders, Melissa Schuman, Anne Marbella) Focused on Torture survivors’ – Necessity for recovery Women at greater risk of sexual torture Is it important to differentiate between innocent victims and guilty criminals? Should their rights differ? Should their testimonies matter? Who should be compensated? Unspoken narratives Testing validity and accuracy

12. ALTERNATIVE LENS Post- Colonialism Theory Concentrated in dismantlement of colonial structures of power. Looking at control and domination. Torture as a continuation of domination of the “Other” Application of International Law on torture to developed/powerful vs. developing states

13. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS  Impacts of U.S. policy and practices on: International customs and norms State behavior U.S. image  Outsourcing of torture - Maintenance of secret detention facilities by the US in North Africa, Asia, and other areas.  Reversal of trends Nuremberg Trials – Punishment of individual actions for torture. No exceptions for “following orders.” High-level officials charged in the Rwanda and Yugoslav tribunals. Only some low-level individuals facing charges for Abu Ghraib torture incidents.  Participation of various actors in the torture process (Lawyers, government officials, physicians, media) For instance, in “prisons at Abu Ghraib, Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ‘at the operational level, medical personnel evaluated detainees for interrogation, and monitored coercive interrogation, allowed interrogator to use medical records to develop interrogations approaches, falsified medical records and death certificates, and failed to provide basic health care’” (Annas 2005, 2127).  Waste of Time and Resources